Autonomous vehicles are being developed for passenger transport and are being considered for providing services akin to a for-hire vehicle (FHV) or taxi service. These types of services generally require rate calculations that often include variables such as distance traveled, vehicle occupancy, transport duration and number of stops. Without an operator present, it may be difficult for an autonomous FHV to calculate an accurate number of vehicle occupants, or to precisely calculate fares for a ride sharing situation with intermediary stops between pickup locations and final destinations. Thus, a system is desired in which an autonomous FHV can be used in conjunction with a door power assist device for accurately obtaining information pertinent to particular variables used in a FHV rate calculation. A power assist device for use with the present invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,676,256, hereby incorporated in its entirety.